Process / pipelineInterview Methods

Expert Interview — Qualitative Knowledge Elicitation from Domain Specialists

The expert interview is a qualitative method in which researchers conduct in-depth, semi-structured conversations with individuals who hold specialised knowledge, experience, or decision-making authority in a defined field. Unlike general population interviews that target subjective lived experience, expert interviews treat respondents as proxies for a broader institutional or professional knowledge domain. The method is widely used in policy research, organisational studies, science and technology studies, and applied social sciences to map tacit professional knowledge, reconstruct decision processes, and triangulate documentary sources.

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Sources

  1. Bogner, A., Littig, B., & Menz, W. (Eds.). (2009). Interviewing Experts. Palgrave Macmillan. link
  2. Meuser, M., & Nagel, U. (1991). ExpertInneninterviews — vielfach erprobt, wenig bedacht. In D. Garz & K. Kraimer (Eds.), Qualitativ-empirische Sozialforschung (pp. 441–471). Westdeutscher Verlag. link

Related methods

ScholarGateExpert Interview (Expert Interview). Retrieved 2026-06-04 from https://scholargate.app/en/qualitative/expert-interview